4. The Answer
“Bill,” I say, “Don’t you have any heart diseases?”
“No, why?”
“Then you should turn around”.
Bill turns and sees the boy, sits down on the ground and begins to pluck at grass and little sticks. For an hour I was afraid for his mind. And then I told him that my plan was to make the whole job immediately and that we would get the ransom by midnight. So Bill agreed to give the kid a smile and a promise to play the Russian in a Japanese war with him as soon as he felt a little better.
Exactly on time, a boy rides up the road on a bicycle, sees the box, puts a piece of paper into it and pedals away back to Summit.
I waited for an hour and then I got down from the tree, got the note and was back at the cave in another half an hour. I opened the note and read it to Bill.
Two Desperate Men.
Gentlemen: I got your letter. I think you ask too much, and I make you my offer, which I believe you will accept. You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars, and I agree to take him back. I advise you to come at night, because the neighbours believe he is lost, and I couldn’t be responsible for what they would do to anybody who brought him back.
Very respectfully,
EBENEZER DORSET.
“Sam,” said Bill, “what’s two hundred and fifty dollars? We’ve got the money. One more night of this kid will send me in Bedlam. You aren’t going to let the chance go?”
I wasn’t.
We took him home that night. We made him go by telling him that his father bought a silvermounted gun and a pair of moccasins for him, and we were going to hunt bears the next day.
When the kid found out that we were going to leave him at home, he started to cry and grabbed Bill’s leg. His father peeled him away gradually, like a plaster.
“How long can you hold him?” asks Bill.
“I’m not as strong as I used to be,” says old Dorset, “but I think I can promise you ten minutes.”
“Enough,” says Bill. “In ten minutes I can cross the Central, Southern, Middle Western States and get to the Canadian border.”
And, as dark as it was, and as fat as Bill was, and as good a runner as I am, he was a mile and a half out of Summit before I could catch up with him.
Exercises
1. Choose the right variant:
1. The criminals’ names are Bill and Sam.
2. The criminals’ names are Sam and Hank.
3. The criminals’ names are Hank and Tom.
4. The criminals’ names are Tom and Bill.
2. How much money did the two men have?
1. 2000 dollars
2. 6000 dollars
3. 600 dollars
4. 2600 dollars
3. What did the two men decided to do?
1. They decided to kidnap a rich man, Ebenezer Dorset.
2. They decided to kidnap a rich man’s son, Ebenezer Dorset.
3. They decided to kidnap a rich man, John Dorset.
4. They decided to kidnap a rich man’s son, John Dorset.
4. Which of these did the boy not use as his “weapons”?
1. A sling
2. A knife
3. A slingshot
4. A stick
5. What did the boy not call one of the men?
1. Paleface
2. Herod
3. Snake-eyes
4. Old Hank
6. What did the boy not do to Bill?
1. He tried to take his scalp.
2. He put a hot boiled potato down his pants.
3. He threw a rock at him.
4. He made Bill cook him food.
7. Choose the right variant:
1. The boys’ father proposed the men return the boy and he pays them two hundred and fifty dollars.
2. The boys’ father the men return the boy and he pays them two thousand and fifty dollars.
3. The boys’ father the men return the boy and pay him two hundred and fifty dollars.
4. The boys’ father the men return the boy and pay him two thousand and fifty dollars.
8. What did the men said the boy’s father got for him?
1. A silvermounted gun and a pair of moccasins.
2. A silvermounted gun and a slingshot.
3. A pair of moccasins and a slingshot.
4. A pair of moccasins and a bicycle.
9. Insert the appropriate verbs:
“I’m the Black Scout,” _____ Red Chief, “and I have to _____ to _____ the settlers that the Indians _____ _____. I’m tired of ____ Indian myself. I _____ to _____ the Black Scout.”
says ride warn coming playing want to be (2)
10. Choose the right form of the verb to be:
For an hour I _____ afraid for his mind
1. is
2. was
3. be
4. will be
11. Make up a sentence using the following words:
hair – pot – of – the – boy – feathers – red – in – was – his – two – watching – coffee – stuck – with – boiling – a
12. Insert the right prepositions:
from – for – off – about
1. We talked _____ it on the front steps of the hotel.
2. About two miles _____ Summit was a little mountain with a cave.
3. Bill stopped, took _____ his hat and wiped his face with a red handkerchief.
4. He kept us awake _____ three hours, jumping up and screaming.
13. Complete the chart:
Keys to Exercises
The Cop and the Anthem
1. Soapy faces the urgent necessity of finding some sort of shelter for the winter.
2. Soapy
3. She proved to be more than ready for action.
4. Because he looked at Soapy’s threadbare clothes.
5. It is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
6. a form of church music
7. Soapy recalls that a successful businessman had once offered him a job.
8. Soapy decided to apply for employment.
9. Soapy has been arrested for loitering.
10. All of Soapy’s attempts are quickly exposed as failures.
11. A police officer responds to the broken window but decides to pursue an innocent bystander.
12. 1. A policeman taps Soapy on the shoulder and asks him what he is doing.
2. Soapy despairs of his goal of getting arrested and imprisoned
3. Soapy’s ploys include swindling a restaurant into serving him an expensive meal.
4. Two servers throw Soapy out onto a concrete pavement.
13.
Witches’ Loaves
1. Miss Martha was sure that the customer would be thankful.
2. Blumberger
3. his colleague
4. She intended to support the “artist”.
5. a fool
6. German cursing
7. Miss Martha put butter into the customer’s loaves of bread.
8. She wanted to know the occupation of the customer.
9. She spoiled his work.
10. Miss Martha meant well putting butter into the loaves of bread.
11. With a bread knife Miss Martha made a deep cut in each of the stale loaves, inserted a big piece of butter, and pressed the loaves tight again.
12. 1. He clinched his two fists and shook them ferociously at Miss Martha.
2. When the customer turned from the door, she was tying the paper around them.
3. She also began to use some cream in order to make her face a little more beautiful.
4. In order to test her theory, she brought from her room one day a painting that she had bought at a sale.
13.
The Count and the Wedding Guest
1. Andy did not believe the story about the Count.
2. Fernando Mazzini
3. Andy Donovan
4. a photographer
5. a man to whom a woman is engaged to be married
6. a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat
7. Maggie bought the picture.
8. very well
9. She did not want to be a liar.
10. You’ve heard of Mike Sullivan, haven’t you?
11. “But you must tell me everything!”
12. 1. My father is very proud, and he never let me take a ring or any presents from him.
2. She stood on the top step and drew on black silk gloves.
3. You’ve heard of Mike Sullivan, haven’t you?
4. I invented that story about the Count, and about his gondola accident, so I could wear black.
13.
No Story
1. The young lady took the train to New York to find the man who had promised to love her.
2. a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights
3. George Brown
4. They promised to be true to each other and always keep the pieces till they meet again.
5. a ten-cent coin
6. a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge
7. The young lady stopped Tripp in the street to ask him about George
8. Because of whisky.
9. He has gone to the dogs. = He has become a drunkard.
10. I never realized what a big place it is.
11. When he sat on my table he held one hand with the other; both hands were shaking.
12. 1. Tripp unbuttoned his coat to take a handkerchief from his pocket.
2. On the day he left, he and me got a hammer and a chisel and cut a dime into two pieces.
3. And then he was coming back for me.
4. Half of his face was covered with short, curly red beard.
13.
Makes the Whole World Kin
1. Once he finds a respectable house, the thief climbs inside through an open window.
2. a term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue
3. The thief woke the man and instructed him to raise his hands.
4. The thief invited the man for a drink at the local pub.
5. Summer dust protector stops dust entering the furniture.
6. Blickerstaff’s Blood Builder, Chiselum’s Pills, Finkelham’s Extract, Omberry’s Ointment
7. As the thief walked inside, he found a man lying in bed, asleep.
8. He said it was the only remedy that could help.
9. an alcoholic beverage
10. The thief, shocked at what he hears, lowers the gun and tells his victim that he as well, suffers from the disease.
11. Outside the house, the old man realises that he has no money with him – the thief, kindly, offers to pay for the drinks.
12. 1. Once inside, the thief scouts for valuable items.
2. The thief and the man proceed to exchange words of comfort about the haunting pain.
3. The burglar took three steps toward the dresser.
4. He sat up in bed and raised his right hand above his head.
13.
The Brief Debut of Tildy
1. Mr. Seeders knew that Aileen was not interested in him.
2. Til
3. in a laundry office
4. an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner
5. He buys and sells stocks and other securities.
6. That so? = Really?
7. The freckles on Tildy’s cheeks merged into a rosy flush.
8. Tildy became a real woman because someone loved her.
9. She had a thrilling but delightful fear that Mr. Seeders would rush in suddenly and shoot her with a pistol.
10. One day when Mr. Seeders came in to dinner he had been drinking beer.
11. No one had ever given her a turquoise ring or invited her upon a voyage to mysterious, distant “Parsifal”.
12. 1. Do you know what a man in the restaurant did to me today?
2. Tildy with the blunt nose, the hay-coloured hair, the freckled skin, had never had an admirer.
3. One gentleman presented her with a turquoise ring and another one gave her a little dog.
4. Aileen knew how to hold a conversation with twelve people and work hard at the same time.
13.
A Retrieved Reformation
1. Jimmy Valentine was released from prison after 10 months.
2. Annabel Adams.
3. the process of opening a safe without either the combination or key
4. the detective who landed Valentine in jail
5. In Arkansas.
6. Because he fell in love.
7. Jimmy Valentine moves into the town, taking up the identity of Ralph D. Spencer, a shoemaker.
8. Annabel’s nieces.
9. Everyone panics, and Annabel begs Jimmy to do something.
10. Jimmy, knowing that it will reveal his true identity, uses his case of tools to open the door and save the child.
11. Valentine starts to leave the bank afterwards, and he sees Price standing by the door and realizes he had witnessed the whole incident.
12.
The Ransom Of Red Chief
1. The criminals’ names are Bill and Sam.
2. The men had 600 dollars.
3. They decided to kidnap a rich man’s son, John Dorset.
4. The boy did not use a slingshot as his weapon.
5. They boy did not call one of the men Herod.
6. They boy did not make Bill cook him food.
7. The boys’ father the men return the boy and pay him two hundred and fifty dollars.
8. The men said that he boy’s father got him a silvermounted gun and a pair of moccasins.
9. “I’m the Black Scout,” says Red Chief, “and I have to ride to warn the settlers that the Indians are coming. I’m tired of playing Indian myself. I want to be the Black Scout.”
10. For an hour I was afraid for his mind.
11. The boy was watching a pot of boiling coffee, with two feathers stuck in his red hair.
12. 1. We talked about it on the front steps of the hotel.
12. About two miles from Summit was a little mountain with a cave.
13. Bill stopped, took off his hat and wiped his face with a red handkerchief.
14. He kept us awake for three hours, jumping up and screaming.
13.
